A Japanese worker suffered a grisly death after becoming caught in a waste milling machine at a recycling plant, news reports said Tuesday.

Police found human flesh mixed with waste on Monday after plant officials told police an employee working near a conveyor was missing, Kyodo News and the Sankei Shimbun daily reported.

Police suspect the 45-year-old worker, whose name was not released, became caught in the machine at the wood recycling plant in the western prefecture of Nara, the reports said.

Fragments of his safety helmet were also found in the compacted waste.

A 56-year-old worker died in August at the plant after he was crushed between a loading shovel and a truck, news reports said.

And a 67-year-old worker was killed at a related factory in another part of the prefecture also last month after he was caught in a conveyor, they said.